REPORT CARD

The 2016 Report Cards continue to report on South Dakota’s accountability system as defined in the state’s ESEA flexibility waiver, and include some new elements that present a more robust picture of school, district, and state performance.

New elements to the 2016 report card include:

Academic Growth is in place as a new indicator for elementary and middle schools;

Student Achievement scores are based on multi-year performance rather than a single year;

College and Career Readiness incorporates new assessments to better measure how prepared the graduating class of 2015 was for either post-secondary school or the workforce.

The overall system continues to be based on a 100-point School Performance Index (SPI), consisting of multiple indicators to measure a school’s performance. These indicators are different at the elementary and high school levels.

Because South Dakota is in the process of transitioning to the new education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, schools have new SPI scores but classifications remain those that were made in 2015.